Bitter ale and stout from the U.K. and Ireland in the tall cans with the floating widget -- comes remarkably close to recreating the drinking experience in a pub with the traditional slow-pour taps. These include Boddington's, Tetley's, Guinness, Murphy's, Beamish and Young's.

I tend to go without wine during the week and then it's always white or green loose-leaf tea. I stopped drinking both black tea and coffee earlier this year and it's done wonders for my teeth ...

That said, I just bought some Kenyan estate loose-leaf black tea after trying it at the specialty shop and finding it a far cry from the nasty bagged tea dust that I had been accustomed to for many years previously.

I tend to be a craft beer geek as much as a wine geek. My faves are Belgian ales (Chimay, Leffe, Duval, Orval, etc), ales from the UK and Ireland (Fuller’s, Young’s, McEwan’s, Smithwick’s, the black stuff, etc) German lagers (especially doppelbocks, Ayinger, Paulaner, Spaten), US micros (Rouge, Anchor, Bridgeport, Ommegang, Three Floyds, New Belgium, Deschutes, North Coast, Bell’s, Mendocino, Sierra Nevada, Hair of the Dog, etc) to name a few.

Alan A. wrote:I tend to be a craft beer geek as much as a wine geek. My faves are Belgian ales (Chimay, Leffe, Duval, Orval, etc), ales from the UK and Ireland (Fuller’s, Young’s, McEwan’s, Smithwick’s, the black stuff, etc) German lagers (especially doppelbocks, Ayinger, Paulaner, Spaten), US micros (Rouge, Anchor, Bridgeport, Ommegang, Three Floyds, New Belgium, Deschutes, North Coast, Bell’s, Mendocino, Sierra Nevada, Hair of the Dog, etc) to name a few.

(Burp!)

Alan,
I am a major Belgian ale guy and had a tasting of 5 of the 7 trapiste ales pluss several Belgian style ales. The winner was ’05 GOUDEN CAROLUS Grand Cru of the Emperor, not a trapiste ale but the oldest brewery. Chimay finished in the middle and Orval finished dead last. Prefer the Dubbels to Triple. The second place winner was a trapiste ale, Koningshoeven, the only one not in Belgium. For domestic beers I like Ommegang (it finished 3rd and got the QPR award) and drink New Belgium Abbey in a pinch. Another favorite is Le Fin de Monde (sp?), wonderful flavors and fantastic name. If you haven't tried some of these do and let me know what you think.
Walt

Thanks Walt, I’ll keep my eye out for those. Unfortunately, here in Bamer the law limits beer to 6% ABV so I have to purchase any high gravity beers from neighboring states (TN, GA, FL.) But there is a growing movement to overturn our archaic beer laws to allow beers up to 15% ABV (the same limit for table wine, which BTW isn’t being enforced to strictly as I have seen some CA wines in the 15.5% range on sale here in the state). Here’s the link to the organization that is lobbying for changes in the law: http://www.freethehops.org

In my initial reply, I assumed you meant what <i>alcoholic beverages</i> do I drink when I'm not drinking wine, which may reveal something about me.

My preferred non-alcoholic options are:

* Tea. Gallons of iced tea. Hot tea rarely, usually either at a Chinese restaurant or if I take an interest in some kind of high-end varietal tea and approach it like a wine tasting.

* Coffee. Espresso strongly preferred, either straight shots or espresso drinks. American coffee much less frequently.

* Water. Sparkling preferred, usually with a citrus twist, occasionally with a little shot of pomegranate juice or some other interesting (non-alc.) fruit juice.

I really don't care for soft drinks. I used to like them but got over Coke when I got into wine. Rarely I'll do something weird and ethnic in a restaurant, particularly Jarritos (I like the tamarindo) in a taqueria, or real ginger beer in a Jamaican eatery.